The University of Cape Town Trust UK will host a London lecture on on 15 January 2014 on “The state of the mining industry in South Africa - and the impact of the 2014 elections”.

The University of Cape Town Trust UK invites alumni and all other South Africans to a lecture in London on â€œThe state of the mining industry in South Africa and the impact of the 2014 elections” by Professor Francis Petersen, Dean of the Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment at UCT.

A graduate of the University of Stellenbosch, where he obtained Bachelors, Masters and Doctorate degrees, Prof Petersen has been a recipient of the Researcher of the Year and the Ernest Oppenheimer Memorial Trust Awards for research excellence.

Formerly Executive Head of Strategy at Anglo American Platinum, Prof Petersen has extensive experience of management at various levels within the university and industry sectors, and has played a key role in various initiatives within higher education, industry and science councils. He is the founder of the first cohort of industry research organisations in the minerals and energy sectors, and has been actively involved in strategic planning with regards to R & D in the science and technology sector, joint venture formation and scenario development. Professor Petersen serves on various national and international technical, editorial and advisory committees, and has consulted widely to the South African chemical and metallurgical process industries. Prof Petersen also held the post of Executive Vice-President: Research and Development at Mintek, and was appointed Dean at UCT in 2008.

Prof Petersen is a member of the South African Minister of Science & Technology’s National Advisory Council on Innovation, chairman of the Board of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, and a former chairman of the Investment Committee of the Innovation Fund. He is a non-executive director on the Boards of the Royal Bafokeng Platinum and Pragma Holdings. He is a member of an international panel on sustainability for Anglogold Ashanti, a former advisor to the Anglo American Platinum Beneficiation Fund. He is a member of the University of Cape Town’s Council, and was recently appointed to the Board of the World Design Capital 2014.